An in-trail procedure (ITP) is a protocol followed by an aircraft that desires to change its current flight level to a new flight level by descending or climbing in front of or behind one or more potentially blocking aircraft that are flying at an intervening flight level. In accordance with the ITP, certain conditions must be satisfied before a flight crew member issues a request for clearance to proceed with the flight level change. Whether or not the conditions are satisfied depends on a number of dynamically changing factors associated with the host aircraft and other aircraft, such as the current geographic position of the aircraft, the current speed of the aircraft, the current heading of the aircraft, the desired new flight level, and the current flight level.
Currently, an ITP requires the simultaneous use of two separate and non-integrated functions; a traffic display for displaying traffic, and a data link communication system and associated and display, for negotiating the ITP with ATC. A pilot is required to repeatedly switch between the two display systems in an integrated system cockpit, thus significantly increasing the pilot's workload associated with negotiating and executing the ITP. The prior art has focused on systems and methods for presenting ITP traffic scenarios; however, there has been insufficient attention to how the negotiation with ITC can be accomplished without excessive crew interaction with an integrated flight deck.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for combining presentation of the traffic scenario associated with an ITP with the communication interactivity necessary for negotiating the ITP maneuver with ATC. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the following detained description and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.